Why Whitworth believes 49ers starting Lance would affect team
Why Whitworth believes 49ers starting Lance would affect team originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Trey Lance has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows since entering the NFL.
The 49ers gave up three first-round draft picks to select Lance in 2021, clearly signally that he was going to be their quarterback of the future. Since then, he has played just eight games in two seasons with San Francisco due to situation and injuries.
Lance now is focused on reclaiming his QB1 job in 2023, but Brock Purdy likely will be San Francisco's starter following a stunning and almost-perfect start to his NFL career last season. The 49ers now face yet another offseason unsure of who their QB1 will be, and former NFL tackle and current analyst Andrew Whitworth tried to wrap his head around the situation.
"I think it's a crazy deal, because you really look at it, it was almost like they made this move as 'Trey Lance is the future' and everything we're doing is saying this guy is going to develop into the next [big thing] for us," Whitworth told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco on a recent "49ers Talk" episode. "And then to fall into a Mr. Irrelevant pick that is an unbelievable football player and just by the Niners players alone, what they have to say, obviously a ton of confidence in that building that he's the real deal."
Whitworth doesn't believe 49ers general manager John Lynch and Co. made a mistake giving up so much to draft Lance, but he acknowledged how unfortunate things have played out thus far for both parties.
The former offensive lineman is sure that Purdy showed enough in 2022 to prove the final pick in last year's draft is worthy of the starting role in the upcoming season. And if the 49ers choose to start Lance over Purdy in 2023, Whitworth doesn't see that going over well with the team and the players, who have been very outspoken about their confidence in Purdy.
"So in this situation, as a [general manager] and as an organization, they did what they thought was best, they went after a guy they thought had this big upside and potential and one thing you can guarantee in the NFL, injuries are going to happen," Whitworth continued. "And when you get drafted is the day they start trying to replace you. And so I think this is one of those situations where unfortunately for Trey Lance, he got hurt in the wrong moment and another guy got his shot and proved what he was worth to a team and now the guys believe in him.
"There's a confidence level. And you'd almost have to go against the confidence of your football team to go back to Trey Lance. This is Brock Purdy's team and for Trey, if it's going to end up happening through injury with the 49ers or somewhere else, obviously he has a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing where his career goes."
Once again, 49ers quarterbacks will be the talk of the offseason. But whoever lines up under center for the first snap of Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco then can shift its focus to the season and getting back to the Super Bowl.
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